Frege's proof of referentiality (Q558426)

The paper provides a deep analysis of \textit{G. Frege}'s ``Grundgesetze der Arithmetik'', Vol.\ 1, \S\S\ 29--31. In these paragraphs Frege attempts to show that every expression of his language has a unique denotation. There is little agreement about the validity of this proof. The author develops a novel interpretation ``which fits the text better than any of its predecessors and shows it to be less confused than often assumed'' (p.\ 73). He argues that the proof of referentiality involves a contextual account of reference to abstract objects. The author denies ``that Frege had a substitutional understanding of the quantifiers or that the circularities of his contextual account are vicious''. He argues that Frege attempts at taming the circularities based on ``a procedure he devised for extending `the sphere of denoting names' step by step'' (p.\ 74). The proof of referentiality would establish the consistency of the logical theory of the ``Grundgesetze'' which is, however, as Russell's paradox proves, not given. The author claims that Frege's mistake lies only ``in a faulty \textit{application} of these ideas'', because he didn't restrict his proof strategy to \textit{predicative} abstraction principles (ibid.).